The Darkest Flame
by Candi Wilkes
Summary: One chance meeting and that's all it took. The former enemies were hooked to each other. Like a drug, they couldn't get enough of the other. Throw in some Veela blood, an angry ex or two, and what do you have? Complete chaos. And right in the center is pure Dramione... with a little twist. Takes place from 6th to 7th year. (Includes Veelas, Head boy and girl, and a Marriage Law)
1. Chapter 1: The Stolen Vision

It was in sixth year that our favorite bookworm made an extraordinary discovery. No amount of reading or studying could have prepared her for this ground-breaking event. It was a little less than a month before the students of Hogwarts would make their journey home, and it went a little something like this…

As usual, Hermione Granger was in the library, much to the dismay of her not quite boyfriend, and not just a friend, Ronald Weasley. Though, if Miss Granger was being honest, she would admit that lately she was going just to find solace away from Ron. But, of course she would never say that in any circumstances other than being put under veritaserum. After all, they were supposed to be love struck, remember?

To her, it just seemed that he was… a little needy, for lack of a better word. Not in a "need you by my side twenty-four-seven" needy, but instead, in an "I really need a babysitter." Don't get me wrong, she did love Ron, but at times he was just so immature it made her want to throw a temper tantrum. But she can't do, that it just wouldn't look right, both of them pitching a fit.

Then there was Harry. She'd always thought of the boy as a brother, but lately it felt like he was so absorbed in saving everyone, he was destroying himself. When Hermione would try to talk to him, it was like talking to a brick wall. But he did have a lot of weight on his shoulders, so she couldn't hold that against him.

She sighed. For once in her life, she actually put a book down. Lately everything seemed so... monotonous. Everyday she would wake up at five o'clock, go over her homework (again), which when done properly usually took around a hour or two. Then of course, Hermione would head towards the Great Hall, book in hand, and munch on a piece of toast while waiting on the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio. After Ron and Harry had joined her, she would then proceed to rant about Ron's atrocious table manners, not noticing him and Lavender practically stripping each other bare with their eyes.

After tying to include Harry in the conversation, but failing, Hermione would storm off in a huff trying to rid herself of the vermin occasionally known as Ron Weasley. By the end of class she'll have convinced herself the argument was her fault and will apologize. Usually after classes were over, and dinner had already been served, the trio will just sit in the common room. Helping each other with homework, or playing a game of Wizard's Chess. These were her favorite memories. Not confronting a three-headed dog, going back in time to save a hippogriff, but just sitting in the common room, socializing.

The only thing she knows that could possibly beat that was the time when she punched Malfoy right square in the nose. Talk about some 'Good times.' For a good month after the incident, she would've sworn she was more popular than even Harry.

As all these thoughts swirled around in her ginormous monster of a brain, she was so distracted she didn't even hear the footsteps approaching her from behind.

"Granger? Why am I not surprised to find you here?" The deep, smooth, and may I say sensual, voice shocked her back in to reality.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione snapped.

"Who got your knickers in a twist? Let me guess, it was Weasley again, wasn't it?"

Right before she could say some remark on him minding his own business, she couldn't help but feel... honored? Satisfied? No that wasn't it... but what ever it was bothered her. The only thought in the young genius's mind was the enemy actually knew her better than her sorta boyfriend. Talk about a shocker.

"For the last time, what do you want? I'm running out of patience here," she growled, trying to go for the whole "I don't like you" thing. Apparently it failed. If anything Malfoy's smirk only grew.

" Ah, naive little Granger. When are you going to figure it out?"

"Figure what out?" She shouted in a whisper, because it was a library after all. She would rather be sent to live with Slytherins for a month then disrespect her only haven these days.

Malfoy sat down in the chair across her, slung his bag down, and put his feet up on the table. Grabbing her recently vacated book, he simply said, "Hogwarts: A History, again Granger? I'm pretty sure this classifies as a addiction. This is a library after all, they have more than one book in here. Wait, you've probably read all of those too, am I right?"

"Does this visit have a point?" Hermione asked looking as grumpy as Crookshanks when she tried to bathe him last week.

"Not especially, and you never asked my question. What has Weasley done now?"

"Has it ever crossed your mind that I may just like to read?'The person, be it gentleman or lady, who was not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid.'"

"Jane Austen? Didn't know you was a fan."

At this point Hermione had to admit she was impressed that he knew that. "The word does not even begin to explain my love for the books." Why did she tell him that? Stupid, stupid, stupid, she mentally chastised herself.

"Hmmm... well, see ya around Granger." And with that Malfoy walked right out of the place, like a fleeting vision... errrr... she meant... uhh... like the ferret he was!

 **Okay, that's it! Chapter one is complete. Tell me what you think, and whether or not I should continue!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Dream Thief

After her run in with the Slytherin Prince, Hermione sat at her table in the library for just a few minutes, before walking out. It was strange, but Malfoy had seemed almost civil... almost. But the strange encounter had certainly given her much to think about. For example, how she almost seemed to enjoy the rushed conversation. After climbling up to the girl's dormitories, she went straight to bed.

What was up with the guy? While Harry and Ron hated the guy with a passion, she had never really even conversed with him to be as prejudiced as she was. She heard Lavender come storming into the room. That squeaky voice could be heard miles away, and the heels she wore didn't help her any in the stealth department either. As soon as the door was swung open, Hermione did her best to put off an air of a person in deep slumber.

Apparently it worked. For once Lavender didn't stop to pester her with questions of all sorts. Eventually, Hermione fell asleep. Yet, it was a unpleasant dream, that of the darkest nightmares, and she soon awoke sometime in the early morning. By her guess it was somewhere around one in the morning. Before she could even roll over, her feet was on the ground.

Surely, she thought, it's no time for a young girl as myself to wander around. So she climbed back into bed. But still, the instinct to go running off to some unknown destination in the humongous castle daunted her. She ignored the feelings for now, and instead concentrated on her nightmare. All that remained in her memory was a sharp yellow color, almost a white, and wings the width of a house, and the color of the darkest raven.

As she tossed and turned in her bed, she wasn't able to shake the feeling something was missing. For the first time in her life the pain and loneliness hit her like a ton of bricks. For a moment she had trouble simply catching her breath. She gasped as the pain radiated throughout her body, increasing with each second. One thought spread throughout her mind until it blocked every thought, every feeling, and every doubt, it was a simple phrase, only two words, but one that had dire consequences if ignored.

 _Find Mate._

Without giving her actions any thought, Hermione jumped up, and ran to the door. The common room, the halls, and staircases were just blurs to her as she ran. Without having an idea to what her destination was, she kept running. It could be dealt with later. Soon she reached the grand and majestic doors that protected the pupils of Hogwarts from the outside. She held a hand out and pushed the doors wide open. Any other time she might have been concerned that it was so easy to get through the safety precautions, but at the moment the only thing she knew was that she had to find _him._ Who it was, she wasn't sure, but she did know she was going to find out if it was the last thing she did.

Her bare feet hit the damp grass with an intensity that most Olympic Champions lacked. _Almost there._ She couldn't stop now, it was almost as if she wasn't in control of her body, which in a way, she wasn't.

Finally her small frame came to a stop. Her eyes were trained on the figure just feet in front of her. She watched as he drew closer, but instead of fright, she only felt anticipation. It felt right. It was right. At this moment, no other existed. Just them. As the person continued, she just barely noticed the platinum blond hair, or that the ever-present smirk had vanished. In it's place was a lust, a need so strong it was almost unbearable. And Hermione knew her face reflected the same emotions.

Step by step, he was almost there. Her feet seemed to no longer be capable of moving, which frustrated her, as it seemed to be taking forever for the mysterious person to advance. In reality it was just seconds, but these two no longer knew what reality was. They could only depend on each other.

There it was, the last step. She was hypnotized by his steely grey eyes as he took her cheeks in his strong, masculine hands, and pressed his lips to hers. Without even thinking about it, her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, deepening the kiss. He pulls away, seconds, minutes, possibly hours later, and placing his lips next to her ear, he whispered, "My mate."

Something in her seemed to grow, blossoming each second, and before he knew what was coming, she had thrown herself at him, completely knocking them both down. He laughed as she towered over him, taking in every aspect of his character. "You felt it too?" she asked, suddenly timid. "Felt it? I've lived it for the past year," he playfully growled, before rolling them, so that he dominated her.

They spent what remained of the night together. Laughing, joking, sharing with each other, with a few stolen kisses every now and then. Hermione was afraid to leave her mate. That word alone excited her. For once, she was actually living, and she didn't want to ruin it by leaving _him._ She just knew that as soon as she let him out of her sight, she was going to wake up. And this was way too good of a dream. While she had questions concerning exactly what he meant by "mate" and who he was, she didn't want to ask. ' _Just enjoy the dream while it lasts.'_

That was her last thought before she fell asleep in the arms of the incredible stranger that had saved her from her own loneliness.

That morning, she woke, noticing that everyone else was already out of bed. Guessing that she must have overslept, she hurried to get ready for her morning classes, putting all thoughts of platinum blond hair and wonderful grey eyes.

 **Whadda ya think? Yes? No?**


End file.
